Former Britain's Got Talent comedian joins Coronation Street

  • Comedian and actor Jack Carroll speaks to Grace Clark about the new gig.

A Britain's Got Talent contestant who finished runner-up in 2013 is joining the Coronation Street family.

Jack Carroll was 14-years-old when he came second on the talent show with his hilarious stand-up act.

He has cerebral palsy and shot to fame with his brilliant comedy talking about his disability and the experiences he faces on a day-to-day basis.

Now, he's joining Coronation Street as "cheeky chap" Bobby, who turns up on his auntie Carla's doorstep looking for a place to stay after falling out with his mum.

He said: "Bobby causes chaos and all these calamities to happen, but because he does have a heart of gold beneath all the sarcasm, he kind of gets away with it."

Bobby has been described as having an "eye for the ladies" and a humour not too dissimilar from Jack's.

Jack said: "There are definitely parallels between Bobby on-screen and my stand-up.

"So if people like that, they'll see some of that stuff. And if they don't like my stand-up, well, the writer's are often funnier than I am so they can enjoy that as well."

Speaking about the importance of having more representation of different disabilities on a show like Coronation Street, Jack said that it was "the way they have gone about it" that has been done so well.

He said: "I think it's amazing and the fact that the disability is mentioned but it's not all there is to the character of Bobby."

Jack's mum was at his Britain's Got Talent audition, and is a huge fan of Coronation Street. Credit: ITV

Since his second place finish on Britain's Got Talent in 2013, Jack has gone on to write and star in his own comedy short on BBC, toured his own live comedy shows, and starred on-screen in sitcom Trollied and film Eaten By Lions, alongside Johnny Vegas.

The 25-year-old says joining Corrie is "a different kind of thing altogether" and admits he was intimidated walking onto set for the first day.

"It's one of those things where you see these buildings that are so iconic, just walking through the set for the first time it was like, yeah, that's bizarre that I'm here", he said.

"It felt like I was on a studio tour. It's become slightly more normal now but hopefully I never lose that little bit of wonder that I have wandering onto Roy's or the Kabin or whatever, because it's a great feeling."

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